Every time we run from God we go down!

Jonah 1:1-3
 "The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of
Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and
preach against it, because its wickedness has
come up before me. But Jonah ran away from
the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went
down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for
that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard
and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord."
Jonah 1:1-3
 “I knew that you are a gracious and
compassionate God, slow to anger and
abounding in love, a God who relents from
sending calamity.”
Jonah 4:2b
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can
I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into
heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell,
behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and
Your right hand shall hold me. You can’t escape
the presence of God.”
Psalm 139:7-10
The consequences of running from God:

1. The enemy has always a “SHIP” READY to

take us away from God.

“But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed

for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he
found a ship bound for that port.”
Jonah 1:3a
2. We will PAY THE PRICE.

“After paying the fare, he went aboard and

sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.”
Jonah 1:3b
“I can go to Tarshish if I want to. I paid the fare.
I’m not a stowaway.” Yet, “Apologies for
disobedience are mere refuges of lies. If you do
a wrong thing in the rightest way in which it can
be done, it does not make it right. If you go
contrary to the Lord’s will, even though you do it
in the most decent, and, perhaps, in the most
devout manner, it is, nevertheless, sinful, and it
will bring you under condemnation.”
Charles Spurgeon
3. God will DO EVERYTHING TO STOP us from
going in the wrong direction.

“Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea,

and such a violent storm arose that the ship
threatened to break up.”
Jonah 1:4
 "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to
guard you along the way and to bring you to the
place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and
listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him;
he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name
is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says
and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your
enemies and will oppose those who oppose
you… Worship the Lord your God, and his
blessing will be on your food and water. I will
take away sickness from among you,"
Exodus 23:20-22,25
4. The PEOPLE WHO ARE WITH US will suffer,
too.

“All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to

his own god. And they threw the cargo into the
sea to lighten the ship.”
Jonah 1:5a
5. It will take us to A DEEP SLEEP.

“But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay

down and fell into a deep sleep.”
Jonah 1:5b

England 2018 1961

Population: 54 mi 47 mi
Muslims: 4.5 mi (8%) 50.000 (0.1%)
Mosque: 2000 7

Today in Birmingham/UK (24% are muslims)

6. We BECOME BLIND believers.

“He answered, ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the
Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and
the dry land.’ this terrified them and they asked,
‘What have you done?’ (They knew he was
running away from the Lord, because he had
already told them so.)”
Jonah 1:9-10

7. Everyone that tries TO HELP US will suffer.

 “Instead, the men did their best to row back to
land. But they could not, for the sea grew even
wilder than before.”
Jonah 1:13

Every time we run from God we go down!

The consequences of running from God:

1. The enemy has always a “SHIP” READY to take us
away from God.
2. We will PAY THE PRICE.
3. God will DO EVERYTHING TO STOP us from going in
the wrong direction.
4. The PEOPLE WHO ARE WITH US will suffer, too.
5. It will take us to A DEEP SLEEP.
6. We BECOME BLIND believers.
7. Everyone that tries TO HELP US will suffer.